Orbs (26 page)

He reached for his tablet and slid it in front of him, blinking off his night vision. The screen displayed the internal blueprints of the Biosphere. Running his finger along the surface, he followed one of the red lines. It didn't take long to find his approximate location. He wasn't far from the vent above the med ward, the area where the Spiders most likely would have sought refuge after they feasted on Saafi.

He slid the tablet back into its pouch and peeked around the corner. As the screen dimmed, he saw there was another light source. Resisting the urge to turn his night vision back on, he crawled forward. At the end of the passage he could see the outlines of what appeared to be several balls.

Moments later he was feet away from a cluster of glowing orbs—smaller ones, no larger than a basketball. He felt his heart beating faster, his breathing becoming labored. These were unlike the others. They were different—they were eggs.

He closed his eyes, trying to blink the sight away. But all it did was enhance his night vision, filling his display with a vibrant green glow.

He forced himself to crawl a few paces forward. With a quick jab, he poked one of the eggs with his rifle barrel.

The skin of the orb pulsated to life, revealing a tiny creature inside. Startled, Bouma scooted away from the thing, smashing into the side of the duct. He took a deep breath and focused on calming his heart rate. He watched the creature unfold one of its many legs, each with a miniature claw on the end. As the baby Spider began to tear through the fragile skin of the orb, Bouma grabbed his rifle. He didn't stop to
think about what the eggs signified—he didn't stop to consider what it meant for the future of the human race. He simply squeezed off a single volley of shots, turning the cluster of eggs into messy blue pulp before continuing forward.

He had a promise to keep. He was going to kill them all.

CHAPTER 30

S
OPHIE
opened her eyes to an endless sea of red sand and a bright, unforgiving sun. At first she thought she was in the Wastelands, but as she examined her surroundings she saw the unmistakable impact scars from asteroids. She was on Mars.

She closed her eyes, expecting to wake up when she opened them. But as soon as her eyelids flicked open, her vision was filled once more with red sand.

Am I dead?

It was the only explanation.

“Dr. Winston,” a familiar voice said from behind her.

She turned to see a hologram of Dr. Hoffman standing a few feet away, his arms folded across his chest.

“If you are seeing this message, then not only have I underestimated you, but you have beaten the odds. You have shown an impressive resilience, Dr. Winston. In fact, I never believed you had it in you. Now, what I am about to tell you is going to come as a shock. You're going to be confused and angry. But you have to understand that what I have done was for the good of all mankind.”

He paused and looked down in her direction, his obsidian eyes burning into her own.

“You see, the Biosphere mission was always a failsafe. It was one of many we strategically placed throughout the world in preparation for the invasion, little vaults of humanity's treasures, if you will. We selected teams of people from all walks of life, promising them all whatever they
needed to be offered in order to accept the mission. In your case, it was a trip to Mars—a trip I'm afraid you will never be making.”

Sophie tried to move, but she was paralyzed. Her lips quivered with anger as she listened, unable to respond.

“I know this information must be devastating, but as I said, I did this to save our species. When we realized the world was dying faster than we ever predicted, we decided it was time to colonize Mars. But when we found out about the Organics, we knew we couldn't pin all our hopes on the Red Planet. We needed to plant the seeds for our survival on Earth as well.”

Dr. Hoffman sighed, dropping his hands to his sides.

“You see, the Organics weren't trying to exterminate us in 2055—they were just testing our defenses. They came here, as you probably know by now, for water. We don't know how much they will take or if they will ever leave, but I do know if even a few of the Biospheres survive, our species will have a fighting chance.”

“If I know you as well as I think I do, you are probably furious right now, and this last bit of information I am going to share is going to upset you even more. By the time you get this message, we will probably be well on our way. I set up one final failsafe:
Secundo Casu
.”

The words raced through Sophie's mind. There had never been a seat on the ship for her or her team. Hoffman had manipulated them all. The contract, the mission—it was all based on a series of well-planned lies. But knowing what she knew now, could she blame him?

“Please know I take no pleasure in telling you this. I do wish you could be here when we open the doors and step out onto the red sand. There is one gift I have left for you in case everything else fails. Inside the command center, you will find a two-way radio that operates on only one frequency. It's encrypted, and virtually indestructible. You can use it to communicate with the other Biospheres. I wish you the best of luck, Dr. Winston.”

She watched his image fade. It took a few minutes for the information to saturate her brain, but it was more than enough time to grasp the fact she had been completely deceived. As she sat, replaying the message in her mind, another pair of voices drifted through the wind.

“Sophie, can you hear me?” one of them said.

A calm, robotic voice quickly followed. “Dr. Winston, are you awake?”

She blinked, and the red sand was replaced by the white walls of the med ward.

“Sophie!” Emanuel reached for her, naked relief on his face.

“Give her some space,” a rough voice said from her other side. She didn't need to turn to see Overton's scarred face peering down at her.

“Dr. Hoffman! The radio! We have to find the radio,” she said, struggling to get out of her bed.

“It's okay, Sophie, we heard the message too,” Emanuel said, soothingly.

“But, how? What happened?” she asked.

“A couple of kids saved our asses. That's what happened.”

Sophie managed a smile. She turned her head to the right to see Holly sitting with Jamie and Owen. David and Jeff sat on another bench, digging into a couple of freeze-dried meals. Standing next to them was Bouma. He winked at her.

She finished scanning the room and realized someone was missing. “Where's Timothy?”

Emanuel took her hand. “There were two Spiders hibernating in the ceiling. They killed him. But that isn't all.” Emanuel paused, realizing the information might be too much for her to handle right away.

“Tell me,” she ordered.

“Do you want the good news or bad news first?”

“Bad.”

“First, the radio Dr. Hoffman was referring to doesn't work,” he said. “We can't get any other Biospheres online. Which either means everyone else is dead, or the disruption outside is preventing communication.”

“And second?” Sophie asked.

Emanuel took a deep breath. “Second, the Organics are reproducing, and by the looks of it they are doing so at an alarming rate.”

Her stomach lurched. She didn't need a seasoned Marine like Overton to tell her what it meant. If they were spawning, then the survivors wouldn't just be fighting against an army with a set number
of soldiers—they would be fighting against an enemy with the ability to replace its dead. And judging by the radio silence, it sounded like they would be doing so alone.

“What's the good news?”

“I may have found a way to kill them.”

Overton's ears perked up immediately. “What do you mean?”

Emanuel rubbed his hands together. “It's fascinating, actually. Their blood is made up of about 80 percent H
₂
O and 20 percent plasma-like substance. The ions are what charge their shields. I think their shields function sort of like the suit an astronaut wears in space: It protects them from a hostile environment, one I don't believe they could survive without their defenses.” He paused to check whether Overton and Bouma were following.

“Go on,” Overton growled.

“Yeah, get on with it,” Bouma said. “No need to wait for the slow kids.” He caught a glimpse of Holly smiling at him, and felt his cheeks glow red.

“As I was saying, when they feed or reproduce, their shields drop. Not all the way, just enough so their blood can regenerate. Now, if we can find a way to drop their shields all the way on a massive level, I think we can kill them. Kill
all
of them.”

“Like some sort of EMP?” Overton asked.

“Honestly, I'm not sure. I need to do more research.”

“This should be our number one priority from here on out,” Overton said.

Sophie coughed deeply, interrupting the conversation.

“Are you okay, Dr. Winston? Your heart rate is elevated,” Alexia said. Her hologram emerged over the corner console, and for a split second Sophie thought she saw a flicker of concern cross her face.

“I feel pretty good, considering,” she said, attempting to sit up. The slight movement sent a wave of fatigue through her body. She rested her head back on the pillow. “How long have I been out?”

“Almost five days. Your heart rate was so low when we got you back here that we had no choice but to put you in a cryo chamber. You also had a nasty gash on your side that required Alexia to perform emergency
surgery,” Emanuel said. “You look a heck of a lot better now.”

“Did you listen to the message from Dr. Hoffman?” Holly asked.

Sophie reached under the covers of her bed and massaged her injury. The rough surface of what would be a very nasty scar ran from her hip to her belly button.

“Yes, I heard it all.”

“Good. We hoped if we hooked you up to one of Alexia's AI consoles with electrical nodes you would hear the message. We thought it might trigger something in your implant,” said Emanuel. “It was playing on all our monitors for a day and a half.”

“Smart thinking there,” Overton said, patting Emanuel on the back.

The Marine smiled and ran a hand through his hair before turning back to Sophie. “You should rest.” He began ushering the team out of the room. “Come on, everyone.”

Sophie watched them leave as a wave of drowsiness swept over her. With one last ounce of energy, she grabbed Emanuel and tugged gently on his arm.

“Will you stay with me a bit longer?”

He smiled and dragged a stool up to the side of the bed. He sat down and held her hand, his thumb tracing her palm.

“Do you really think you can find a way to kill the Organics?” she asked quietly.

Emanuel nodded without hesitation. “Everything has a weakness, and I've found theirs.”

They sat in silence for several moments. The lights in the room dimmed, and the ambient sound of the ventilation system kicked on. Sophie concentrated on the warmth of his hand over hers. They both knew what had been lost, what Dr. Hoffman's message meant for the future of mankind. And most of all, they knew how difficult it would be to survive in this strange new world. But, for that single moment, none of it mattered. All that mattered was that they had each other—and hope.

EPILOGUE

A
CRIMSON
sunset peeked above the black outline of a mountain range in the distance. The cloudless sky was a brilliant mixture of orange and purple, almost obscene in contrast with the dying valley below. A dry riverbed snaked through a browning forest. It had been weeks since the invasion, and the world was a very different place. Surface water was gone. The temperature had risen several degrees, and humidity was nonexistent. According to Alexia's calculations, the sea levels were slowly dropping around the planet. The Organics were advanced, but not all-powerful. They had found a way to get almost every ounce of freshwater on the planet, but the saltwater was slowing them down.

The Earth was dying, but it had been dying for a long time.

Sophie sucked in a breath of the dry air while listening to the now-familiar sound of laughing children. She turned to see Overton tossing a football to Owen and David halfway down the tarmac.

“When you're taking a long shot, you have to take wind direction into consideration,” said Bouma from a few yards away. Sophie leaned her back against the outside of the blast doors and watched him help Jeff sight his rifle over the valley.

Holly was strolling across the tarmac with Jamie in tow. They stopped next to Owen, and Jamie picked up the football, pretending to hand it to him.

“Here you go,” she said with an innocent smile.

Owen reached out to grab it, but she yanked it away. “Bet you can't catch me!” she shrieked, taking off down the runway.

Overton laughed. “Don't go too far!”

“Think it's really safe out here?” Sophie slid a few feet over to make room for Emanuel.

“Overton said there hasn't been a sign of a drone in over a week,” Sophie said. “The RVM seems to be keeping them away.”

“For now,” Emanuel said.

Sophie didn't respond. She didn't want to think about the inevitable, not today. She didn't want to think about when the Organics would come back, or when the team would be forced out of the Biosphere to scavenge for supplies. She just wanted to enjoy the sunset and watch the children.

“Got you!” Owen yelled as he wrapped Jamie in his tiny arms. She squealed with laughter.

A smile broke across Sophie's face. It was then it finally hit her. She was looking at their future. All this time, she had believed the Biosphere mission was the most important one of her life, that Mars was the future for humanity. But as she scanned the faces of the four children, she knew that her mission had changed. Her goal was no longer to prepare for a new life on a distant planet—it was to protect what was left of life on Earth.

She thought briefly of those that they had lost: Saafi, Timothy, Finley, her parents, and those of the children they'd managed to save, and the billions of others who had perished. She wouldn't let their deaths go unavenged. Dr. Hoffman was right about one thing: the human race had to go on.

Alexia's calm voice sounded over Sophie's headset. She put her finger to the earbud, straining to listen over the children's laughter. “Dr. Winston, I'm picking up a radio transmission on the device Dr. Hoffman left behind.”

Sophie gasped, reaching for the radio on her belt, but her hands came up empty. She had left it inside. “Can you patch it through?”

Static filled the channel for several seconds before a muffled voice finally broke through.

“This is Alex Wagner with the Biosphere facility at Edwards Air Force Base in California, requesting assistance. Over.”

Sophie froze, her eyes widening as she grabbed Emanuel's hand. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Overton drop the football and put his finger to his earbud. One by one her team members stopped what they were doing and rushed over to her.

“What do we do?” Bouma asked. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Holly, and for a moment Sophie thought she saw their hands touch.

“Well?” Overton said. “How are you going to respond?”

Sophie hesitated, looking at Emanuel for assistance before turning to face her team. Holly's advice from days before echoed in her mind. Now was the time to make good on her promise to Holly and to herself. “We tell them they're not alone,” she said firmly. “And then we tell them that we're working on a way to defeat the Organics.”

In the distance, the sun had finally disappeared behind the black mountain range. Sophie took a moment to admire the dazzling, star-filled sky. As she scanned the heavens, she couldn't help but wonder if one of the tiny dots of light was
Secundo Casu
on its way to Mars.

—End of Book I—